Yancy Noll homicide suspect in court

A 29-year-old Seattle man suspected in the Aug. 31 fatal shooting of Yancy Noll, a QFC wine steward, made his first appearance in court Saturday, a day after his arrest by Seattle police.

According to the King County Prosecutor’s Office, the suspect was ordered held without bail, pending a charging decision. He must be charged or released by Tuesday.

Yancy Noll (photo courtesy KOMO)

Seattlepi.com does not typically name suspects in criminal cases until they are formally charged.

The motive for the shooting, which occurred in the Roosevelt neighborhood, appeared to be road rage, according to police. Noll, 43, was shot three times in the head as he sat in the driver’s seat of his car, stopped in a line of traffic at a red light at the intersection of Northeast 75th Street and 15th Avenue Northeast. The shots were fired from another car, described as a silver BMW convertible, which had pulled alongside Noll’s car.

A probable-cause statement drawn up by police and presented in court Saturday stated that witness accounts were used to form descriptions of the suspect’s appearance and vehicle, but it wasn’t until an anonymous tipster phoned police on Sept. 12 that the suspect was identified. The caller said the suspect, who lived less than an mile from the shooting scene, “was known to own firearms and had a volatile personality.”

Additional investigation by Seattle police revealed a 2006 BMW convertible registered to the suspect, who also had a concealed weapons permit and a registered .40-caliber Glock pistol. Police also said they uncovered evidence that the passenger-side window, through which Noll had allegedly been shot, had been replaced, and that new tires had been installed on the vehicle, all after the shooting. Tire tread marks at the shooting scene were considered part of the evidence by police.